


And after all the weather was ideal.

by ishie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, No Pregnancy, Post-Canon, Redeemed Ben Solo, additional ships and characters to be added, egregious use of wookieepedia because the writer's memory is garbage, minor droid surgery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25641874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishie/pseuds/ishie
Summary: Rey's never really celebrated her birthday. The Resistance has broken up and gone its separate ways to rebuild in a post-First Order Galaxy, so it looks like this year won't be any different. Luckily, a redeemed Ben Solo has finally worked out how to get everyone back together for a surprise party on a perfect summer day on Naboo.Or so he thinks.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 6
Collections: Summer Fic Exchange 2020





	1. a more perfect day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheStarsMyDestination](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStarsMyDestination/gifts).



> For [TheStarsMyDestination](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishie/pseuds/thestarsmydestination), who asked for soft fluff and a surprise party for Rey in the TWD Summer Fic Exchange. 
> 
> The title is from "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield which inspired the story this almost was before Ben's overconfidence in party-planning took it over completely, lol

Ben couldn’t have ordered a better day for the party. The sky was cloudless, but for a few wisps to the south over the lake. The oppressive humidity of midsummer had given way to crisp, bright days and a bit of breeze that always seemed to blow in from the east. 

This morning it was more southerly, maybe even a bit warmer than he expected, but perhaps that was how it always was this early. Ben would hardly know. He and Rey didn’t usually rise much before noon, unless they absolutely had to. She was busy until all hours in the workshop, coordinating over the holonet with the far-flung members of the Resistance, while Ben stayed late in the study, poring over the texts and datapads that arrived by the hundreds every week. They always ate together, small meals dotted haphazardly throughout the afternoon and night, arranged chiefly by whenever Rey’s hunger overcame her work ethic. Ben kept the pantry stuffed so full that he could hardly squeeze between the shelves if the BX kitchen droid wasn’t in sleep mode, while Rey did her best to empty out their stockpile as quickly as possible. 

It was still early enough that dew clung to the lawn as Ben slunk out the patio door and strolled down the hillside toward the garden. The sea of grass sparkled in the sun, tiny jewels strewn among the sweet-smelling flowering and fruiting plants that he swore doubled every time Rey so much as glanced at them.

Of course, Ben hardly noticed, except to frown at the moisture darkening his hems and spattering his boots. If he had ordered the day -- custom-made to his desires, befitting the occasion it was meant to mark -- he would have requested far more of the sweet air and golden sunshine, and none of, well. Of all the rest of it.

“Finn,” he said again, speaking as patiently as possible into the comlink he held firmly in one hand. There was a very good chance it wasn’t very patiently at all. “What do you mean you don’t have the cake? I paid extra for an early pickup.”

“How many times do I—” Finn interrupted himself with a sharp breath. “Like I _said_ , there was a mix-up here. Apparently. Someone named Motée has your cake. Motée? Am I saying that right?”

Ben didn’t care. He didn’t curse either. Out loud. “Get it back.”

“I would, but they’re already offworld. Rose checked with the spaceport. Left early this morning.” There was a long pause. “Earli _er_.”

“Great!” It was an effort to keep his voice from carrying up the lawn and into the house, but Ben managed it. Sort of. “Wonderful! What a fantastic start.”

The bakery was on Ryndellia. It was only a short hop from there to Naboo via the hyperlane, one Ben had made several times in the planning for today. Maybe this Motée had filed a flight plan before departing. Maybe they could be found, quickly, and convinced to give up whatever remained of the multitiered custom order Ben had painstakingly sketched, and explained, and taste-tested, and paid dearly for over the last few months. Maybe—

There was a brief scrabbling over the open comlink, then Rose offered, “Ben, whatever you’re planning: stop.”

“I’m not—”

“ _Stop._ ”

He stopped.

“They have a really nice shuura crumble,” Rose continued, as if it were every day she basically told him to shut up. “They said they can put a bunch of servings on a big platter thing with some other stuff. Popular at parties here. It’s got, uh, what are these? Oh! Muja! I’ve never seen one this color. You’ll love it. _Rey_ will love it.”

“Fine, get it,” Ben snapped. The comlink snagged on his pocket, resetting the activation switch he’d just thumbed to off. With a sigh, he lifted it to his mouth and added, “Thanks, Rose.”

Dead silence answered. 

Pinching his nose, Ben added, “And Finn.”

“No problem!” Rose chirped in a sugary tone, making him think there probably would be a problem later.

Later he could deal with. It was the now that concerned him, or the next several hours immediately about to unfold to be precise. There was so much to do, even without this snag. The tent had yet to arrive, despite the exorbitant deposit he’d made to ensure another early arrival, and the diversion he’d arranged to keep Rey occupied while it was being assembled had also yet to arrive, and all his efforts to contact the diversion -- the whole reason he was out here ruining his boots in the first place! -- were for naught.

Pacing back the way he came, Ben tried to remember how much flour and eggs were still in the pantry. If BX hadn’t already started on the pancakes for Rey’s breakfast in bed, he could cadge a few while they waited for the diversion and the tent. A few hours delay wouldn’t hurt, really. Rey would certainly never say no to sleeping later. 

Honestly, Ben thought, the slight delays could be a blessing in disguise, giving him enough time to whip together something resembling the ostentatious tower of confectionery that this Motée had stolen. Not that he distrusted Rose’s judgment on the replacement dessert. But maybe there was enough of the cream left to make a caramel sauce... Oh, he could try sugaring some of the plom fruits that grew... They had certainly looked plump enough—

The wind shifted, bringing a hint of smoke that smelled strongly of scorched oil and syrup.

“Oh, _kriff_ ,” Ben moaned as he broke into a run.


	2. to show the tall fellow how at home she felt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, for the record, this is a canon divergence AU where all the new characters and planets from the movie we do not speak of still exist but uhh almost none of that plot does? Which you don't really need to know to read this, except to say sorry to Poe fans, because one of the things that definitely did happen was the arguing over his callous disregard for the Falcon.
> 
> Also the chapter count went up one because I couldn't get Ben and Rey to move along to plot stuff instead of ... well, you'll see. ;)

“I don’t see what the big deal is, Ben! BX was telling me his processing speeds used to be faster, so I gave him a little nudge.”

“A nudge?” Bits of BX’s shiny blue and gold carapace were strewn about the sunny kitchen. Bolts and panels mixed with the dirty bowls and steaming griddle the droid had used for the ruined breakfast, which still smoked in the sink. 

“Maybe more of a shove,” Rey muttered. She scratched absently at her neck, yawning a bit in the process. “I’ll have it fixed in a minute.” 

Ben watched while she worked and ignored the itching urge to tidy the breakfast things while he waited. After a few moments, Rey made a triumphant noise and waved a hand over her shoulder at him, the other arm still elbow deep in BX’s core. Ben snatched away the multitool, bristling with attachments, before she reenacted the scar she had once ripped across his face. 

Slapping the ball of conduit paste he’d been warming for her into her hand, he asked, “Was the nudge before or after the pancakes?”

“During? A bit?”

“Rey,” he groaned. This was far from the first time she’d tried to sweeten their only droid’s performance. It usually went a bit better, but not by much. How a woman who was so meticulous about her work could be so reckless when it came to their household, he’d never understand.

“I woke up and you were gone so I came looking for you, but you were pacing out on the lawn which you never do unless it’s bad news, and BX had already started so I just thought, well, I thought if I could hurry him up a bit and sneak back upstairs then you wouldn’t have to wait when you came back in and maybe that would help!” She sucked in a quick breath after rushing all that out, and added, “They smelled really good.”

Peering over her shoulder, he could see that the circuit board was re-fastened and her nimble fingers were securing the last of the wires. “He was using that baking spice we found at the market in town last spring.”

“Oh,” she sighed, “the one that makes everything taste as warm as Pasaana? I love that one.”

The pleasure in her voice was more than enough to soothe the bite of that planet’s name. That, and the soft smile she turned toward him while she dusted off her hands and the knees of her loose trousers, and stood. 

“I know,” he told her.

“BX should be back to normal now. Or, once I get all his bits reattached. I’ll talk to you before I try any more upgrades.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he told her, a bit stung that she would think she would. 

Rolling her eyes, she thumped him lightly. “Just to let you know, so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Don’t think you’re going to start giving me permission!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Stepping closer, Rey pushed some of his hair behind his ear. Her eyes met his, as steady as anything. “I am sorry I ruined breakfast. And not just because I’m hungry.”

Ben held her hand to his chest, letting her feel his steady heartbeat as he bent to brush a kiss across her forehead. “I know.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” she said in a low tone he knew even better now than her furious one, as his lips drifted lower, tracing along her cheek and nose, and nudging lightly against her mouth.

“I know you will,” he breathed.

Her lips were as soft as her arms were insistent, looping behind his neck and back, pulling him into her body. She hadn’t cleaned her teeth after rising, but neither had he, and frankly it was the work of only seconds to push the thought right out of his head. That and nearly every other thought that would under other circumstances have been circling his brain like carrion birds. The party, the cake, his ruined boots, the still-missing tent, and the diversion he had so painstakingly -- and painfully -- arranged. All were drifting away like steam on a cold day, until they were replaced with Rey, Rey, _Rey_.

Well, nearly.

A ribbon of cool air tickled across the back of his neck, where Rey had just removed her hand, an instant before an inner door whined open behind them and a voice boomed into the otherwise quiet kitchen, “Jeez, what’s a guy gotta do to get a welcoming committee around here?”

Rey pulled back far enough to look directly into Ben’s eyes. When he tried to groan and drop his forehead to hers, she twisted her fingers in his hair just enough to hold his head steady. Her eyes narrowed until the faint smile lines etched by the sun creased into something more frightening.

“What the _kriff_ is Poe Dameron doing in my house, Ben?”

“Uh,” he said, every bit as suave as he remembered his father had often been. “Surprise?”

#

The second he could hear that Rey had closed their bedroom door upstairs, Ben spun to face Poe, a finger raised to the other man’s face. “Where is Chewie?” he hissed like a lothcat. 

“Don’t shoot the messenger, buddy,” Poe said in his normal tone. He was too busy eyeing the books that lined the cases along the wall to notice that Ben was trying to use his height and breadth to best advantage. “He and Klaud ran into a little trouble. You’re lucky he told me where they were headed so I could step in.”

“Step in?” Ben was aware that his voice was starting to rise like a compressor heading to overload, but there wasn’t much he could do for it. Therapy and the intervening years could only do so much in the face of Poe Dameron. “Step in _how_?”

“Oh, you know, gotta keep busy now that I’m grounded. Little of this, little of that. Say, is that a Balinaka carving? I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid.”

Ben snatched the trio of ice dancers off the shelf before Poe could touch them. “Why are _you_ here? Couldn’t someone else have stepped in?”

“Nobody else has the line of credit needed for bail.”

“Bail?” Rey asked. She had dressed much faster than Ben had seen her do in ages, but her hair was still loose. “Who needs bail?”

Without needing to be asked, Ben stepped behind her and plucked the hair ties off her wrist. While Poe spun the tale of Chewie and Klaud’s ill-timed encounter with an old acquaintance, he twisted Rey’s hair into low braids and secured them behind her ears. Her smile of thanks was radiant, no less so for the exaggerated, irritated face she made with a quick gesture toward their unwelcome guest.

“So, apparently the guy used to be a magistrate on Ord Mantell—”

“Of course it’s Ord Mantell,” Ben grumbled. He threw himself down on the low couch and pinched the top of his nose. How many times had he heard about Ord kriffing Mantell?

Rey looked confused. “What’s Ord Mantell?”

“A place where nothing good ever happens,” Ben said, very aware he sounded like the diabolical narrator of a cheap holo. And all these years he’d thought it was Han who had led the duo into trouble at every turn.

“Well, not for Chewie, anyway.” Poe sounded as cheerful as if he’d eaten nothing but starshine for every meal. “They’re being held for some minor fraudulences and whatnot, so I just need to go smooth things over.”

“ _You_?” Ben and Rey said, in unison and identical disbelief.

To his credit, Poe shrugged as if to say he agreed. “The good news is they’re in the low security facility at the old Bannistar Station.”

Rey’s patience, never all that deep a pool to begin with, was starting to run out. She sat beside Ben and crossed her arms, already tapping her foot on the floor. “Then why are you here and not there?”

“It was on the way. And this might need slightly more diplomacy than I can handle.”

With narrowed eyes, Rey repeated herself. “Why are you _here_?”

Poe spread his arms and put on his best innocent look, a tactic that likely worked better elsewhere. “Look, I have the credits but you know how mouthy Klaud gets. So when I say diplomacy, I mean I need you to put on a— a cowl or something, and stand all menacingly behind me.”

Settling deeper into the couch and crossing her arms even tighter, Rey still managed to draw herself up as if swelling with indignation. She bit out, “How dare you? He’ll do no such thing.”

Poe’s grin returned, and widened, as Ben realized at last what was happening and his heart sank. This was the diversion? After all the work he’d put into the original plan. After the weeks of pumping himself up to comm in the first place! He knew he should have tracked down Maz Kanata instead.

“Oh,” Poe drawled, looking as pleased as if he’d invented antigrav himself, “I didn’t mean him.”


End file.
